The Chinese government plans to implement a deposit-insurance system for bank accounts this year, a top official from China’s central bank said Thursday.

“China will implement a deposit-insurance scheme, probably this year,” said Yi Gang, vice governor of the People’s Bank of China, speaking on a panel hosted by the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. “That is also very important infrastructure for continued liberalization in interest rates.”

China’s central bank currently maintains a cap on the interest rate banks can pay depositors. In March, PBOC Gov. Zhou Xiaochuan said that “deposit-rate liberalization is on our agenda,” and “I personally think it’s very likely to be realized in a year or two.”

Premier Li Keqiang also has proposed a deposit-insurance system for Chinese banks, which would create a stronger safety net for savers. “We can consider launching a deposit-insurance system as soon as possible,” Mr. Yi said late last year in remarks reported by the official Xinhua news agency.

Mr. Yi said Thursday that China has a wide-ranging reform program for its financial sector, including liberalization of interest rates and exchange rates for the yuan, opening the banking sector to private capital and the introduction of “stringent” financial regulations.

Separately, Mr. Yo said the recent depreciation in China’s currency is normal and the country remains on track to let markets play a larger role in determining its value

“If you look at the volatility of all currencies, probably the renminbi is among the smallest,” said Mr. Yi, using a formal name for the currency, also called the yuan. He added, “The recent movement of the renminbi, especially since February and March, I think is normal. The depreciation is only something like 2%. Any currency you look at, either in yen or euro, that kind of movement is perfectly normal.”

Mr. Yi said China plans to liberalize exchange rates for the yuan. “My forecast is, in the future, renminbi will more or less see the flexibility to increase and it will float in both ways. Not like before, it all was one way,” he said.

The PBOC last month widened the band within which it allows the yuan to trade. Chinese officials have signaled the recent decline is part of the bank’s efforts to prepare the yuan for wider trading and thwart short-term speculators.

Mr. Yi’s remarks came a few days after a senior U.S. Treasury Department official said the Obama administration is looking closely at whether Beijing’s efforts to devalue the yuan represent a shift in policy that could start a round of competitive devaluations. The official said it would “raise serious concerns” if Beijing is moving away from plans to allow market forces to have a greater impact on the yuan’s exchange rate, especially if Chinese officials are at the same time citing greater flexibility in the currency’s movements.

Beijing’s management of its currency has long been a source of tension with Washington. A weaker yuan makes Chinese exports relatively cheaper on world markets than U.S. goods and services. Many members of Congress have accused China of currency manipulation and said its efforts to keep the yuan low compared with the dollar have hurt U.S. exporters and cost American jobs.

Mr. Yi said market and external forces may be at work causing the yuan’s recent depreciation, including the U.S. Federal Reserve’s reduced bond-buying, referred to by some observers as quantitative easing or QE. “If you look at China and you look at the movement of the exchange rate in February and March, we are facing the international external environment of the QE tapering by the Fed and also facing the economic slowdown, there are some signals predicting China is going to slow down. And the third item, if you look at February’s trade number, we have a $23 billion trade deficit in February,” he said. He added, “The market plays a determining role in resources allocation. If you believe that, then I think you should let it go.”

“Of course, it’s perfectly for normal and understandable that relevant countries and my dear colleagues, they have some concerns. I think that’s perfectly normal,” Mr. Yi said. “I believe that, as time passes by, people will see clearly and better see the entire exchange rate regime mechanism in China is moving toward a market-oriented way.”

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